In a shocking turn of events at the box office this weekend, the Seth Rogen-led raunchy comedy Neighbors overtook The Amazing Spider-Man 2 as the highest grossing film this weekend. It’s rare for a superhero blockbuster to falter in its second week, but that’s exactly what happened to good ol’ Spidey. Could it be a sign of audience’s fatigue towards comic book films, or it is a testament to the film’s quality? Whatever the case may be, it doesn’t bode well for the Sony film, especially with the American Godzilla remake coming out next weekend.
However, it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise that Neighbors sold well. I called it the comedy of the year back at SXSW, but I didn’t know it would have performed so well against Spider-Man. If you haven’t seen the film yet, I highly recommend doing so; Zac Efron definitely has shed his Disney past and has become an amazing actor over the past few years, and his performance in Neighbors will attract any Efron detractors.
The Other Woman, Heaven is for Real, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier fill out the rest of the Top 5. This weekend’s other major release, Legends of Oz, performed poorly with a $3.7m intake. The animated “sequel” to Wizard of Oz was anticipated to have a solid return, especially with its star-studded cast made up of Lea Michele, Dan Aykroyd, Kelsey Grammer, Jim Belushi, Martin Short, and others, but may struggle to break even with its $70m budget.
You can read the rest of this weekend’s box office numbers below.
1. Neighbors – $51,070,425
2. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – $37,200,000
3. The Other Woman – $9,250,000
4. Heaven is for Real – $7,000,000
5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – $5,619,000
6. Rio 2 – $5,125,000
7. Mom’s Night Out – $4,200,000
8. Legends of Oz – $3,705,376
9. Divergent – $1,700,000
10. Brick Mansions – $1,480,000
[via Rentrak]